What mental condition are you?

[Shimmy]

I just had a look at Stephen Fry's (he's my hero) wiki page and it turns out he has cyclothymia, reading through the description I can definitely see that I have a mild form of most of the symptoms.

Though unlike Stephen Fry I would never end up in Belgium after a breakdown. It would make matters worse.

Learning more about this condition via a Stephen Fry documentary I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I do not suffer from this condition to any extent that is clinically recognized or remotely dangerous to my health, I just recognize a lot of the symptoms in myself.

So... ADD, Manic Depressive, Asperger, Down or something else entirely, which clinically recognized mental condition (not necessarily disease) applies most to you?

A thread about the general side of psychiatric diagnoses. Discussions about the subject go here.

 

[Phantonym]

Oh, Wikipedia is a marvel for all those hypochondriacs out there.

By the way, Down syndrome is genetic.

Sure, I can compile a list of "issues" of which some of the symptoms apply to me more or less. I don't have any kind of professional diagnosis.

AD; AvPD; BDD; BED. I could probably find some more. :rolli:

 

[Shimmy]

Oh, Wikipedia is a marvel for all those hypochondriacs out there.

By the way, Down syndrome is genetic.

Sure, I can compile a list of "issues" of which some of the symptoms apply to me more or less. I don't have any kind of professional diagnosis.

AD; AvPD; BDD; BED. I could probably find some more. :rolli:

You're right about the Down syndrome, I put it in as a joke, suggesting it to see if anybody would identify with it which would obviously be untrue. You kind of ruined it by immediately pointing out the flaw.

Apart from AvPD I don't know what you're talking about by the way.

 

[Geoff]

Stephen Fry did an interesting pair of documentaries about living with bipolar disorder.

 

[Phantonym]

You're right about the Down syndrome, I put it in as a joke, suggesting it to see if anybody would identify with it which would obviously be untrue. You kind of ruined it by immediately pointing out the flaw.

You're welcome.

Apart from AvPD I don't know what you're talking about by the way.

And that's exactly how I like it!

 

[prplchknz]

i don't get this board sometimes why would you want a mental illness? shrinks and drugs knowing you're different, sorry but its not that great I'd rather just be slightly weird

 

[Phantonym]

i don't get this board sometimes why would you want a mental illness? shrinks and drugs knowing you're different, sorry but its not that great I'd rather just be slightly weird

Nobody wants it.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Nobody wants it.

But people do immensely over-diagnose themselves in our culture today. Of course, I think that professionals do too.

My own stance is that if someone even breaks even on the possibility that they may or may not have a mental disorder, assume they don't have one. And that's without even getting into the question of whether or not some disorders have inherently illegitimate criteria.

I spent years reading material online, my own copy of the Merck Manual, and even seeing a psychologist for three of them. Only very recently did I find something that I felt could really be something I had. This is because I decided that if there was any hole in a diagnosis, I would throw it out.

When you follow that standard, you'll find that the number of people with disorders suddenly drops. As an actual policy, it poses problems because it may very well overlook people who do have a mental problem. But I decided it was best not to act like I had something unless it was beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

[Loxias]

Cyclothymia.
My father is bipolar, his father is cyclothymic and my grandfather's father was at least cyclothymic...

 

[Phantonym]

But people do immensely over-diagnose themselves in our culture today. Of course, I think that professionals do too.

My own stance is that if someone even breaks even on the possibility that they may or may not have a mental disorder, assume they don't have one. And that's without even getting into the question of whether or not some disorders have inherently illegitimate criteria.

Yes, I agree. Personally, I have no experience with medication and I might be wrong here but maybe people tend to turn to medication more than it is necessary as well. It seems like people are looking for easy fixes to cover up the real problems or they simply avoid dealing with things on a deeper level.

I think that there's still so much stigma and shame associated with mental disorders. It's easier to deny.

 

[Tiltyred]

Sometimes they are unable to deal with things on a deeper level until their brain chemistry is righted.

It's good that we have medications that work. People who take them are not necessarily short-cutting anything. Also, sometimes there really isn't an issue to work out. Sometimes it's just brain chemistry that needs tweaking.

I think I'm supposed to be schizo-avoidant -- I think I read that's what goes with either 4w5 or INFJ, I can't remember which.

 

[Phantonym]

Sometimes they are unable to deal with things on a deeper level until their brain chemistry is righted.

It's good that we have medications that work. People who take them are not necessarily short-cutting anything. Also, sometimes there really isn't an issue to work out. Sometimes it's just brain chemistry that needs tweaking.

Yes, I can agree with that. It is good that there are at least options that can be explored and people have access to them. But I guess I just have some deep aversion towards medication and I'd like to explore those other options before resorting to that.

 

[Tiltyred]

At the risk of being tedious, the "chin up, shoulders back, deal with your stuff, work, you lazy bum" and then medication is "the last resort," sort of "if you're a miserable failure and just can't cope, then all right, here's a pill" is part of the prejudice. I'm jes sayin'.

 

[Phantonym]

At the risk of being tedious, the "chin up, shoulders back, deal with your stuff, work, you lazy bum" and then medication is "the last resort," sort of "if you're a miserable failure and just can't cope, then all right, here's a pill" is part of the prejudice. I'm jes sayin'.

Yeah, well, I never said I couldn't use some myself.

 

[Tiltyred]

 

[Lark]

I remember reading about something called "interns syndrome" when reading psychology textbooks on abnormality once, it described a process by which people begin to imagine they exhibit symptoms they dont really or exaggerate traits, quirks, behaviours or thoughts and feelings which are "best fit" for a particular "diagnosis".

Conversely rational and critical reflection by those who had experienced this kind of thing has contributed to some of the biggest break throughs in anti-psychiatry or skepticism about diagnostic categorisations.

I think that I've experienced highs and lows of affect occasionally but I generally can find clear links to physical or social stresses and stressors, I'm a very big believer in both psychodynamics and social systems when it comes to thoughts and behaviour, no man or woman is an island whatever they might believe.

 

[Shimmy]

I remember reading about something called "interns syndrome" when reading psychology textbooks on abnormality once, it described a process by which people begin to imagine they exhibit symptoms they dont really or exaggerate traits, quirks, behaviours or thoughts and feelings which are "best fit" for a particular "diagnosis".

Conversely rational and critical reflection by those who had experienced this kind of thing has contributed to some of the biggest break throughs in anti-psychiatry or skepticism about diagnostic categorisations.

I think that I've experienced highs and lows of affect occasionally but I generally can find clear links to physical or social stresses and stressors, I'm a very big believer in both psychodynamics and social systems when it comes to thoughts and behaviour, no man or woman is an island whatever they might believe.

I think you raise a good point. Like I mentioned in the OP, I noticed that I exhibit a lot of the traits that go around in cyclothymia when I watched a documentary about it, but at the same time I realized that I only had those symptoms in such very small details. I literally know people who express the symptoms a lot stronger then I do.

 

[miss fortune]

I'd thought that this thread was a cool correspondence between personality and disorder, like an OK Cupid test would give

as in Hi!!! I'm Mania because I use lots of exclamation points and emoticons!!!

 

[runvardh]

Clinical Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Attention Defficit Hyperactive Disorder, Dyslexia - wish none of it was true, but I'm managing.

 

[lunalove]

I was Dx w/ ADD, ADHD, LD's, bipolar, OCD/anorexia...

bipolar was a misdiagnosis. It was made because I have ADD/ADHD combo. It happens often, my psych. told me.

I'm off all meds. I take an herb for ADD. I am changing my brain chemistry naturally. I had a huge wake up call that changed everything for me (I've been told that wake up calls can change your brain chemistry quickly by my therapist!) I also had several chronic illnesses and I'm off all meds for those as well (except for IBS. That still gets me) I'm def glad meds are out there...but I'm even happier I don't need them anymore! I think different things work for different people and it's great that there are so many options out there!!

Great post!